


Patch Pizza

by ManlyQuail



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pizza Place, Alternate Universe - Real World, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, F/F, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, M/M, Mercury Black in a Wheelchair, Pizza
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:28:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25398433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ManlyQuail/pseuds/ManlyQuail
Summary: Patch Pizza takes Team RWBY and places them in the real world, working together at a pizza shop located in Patch. The story will be told from the perspective of each of the characters in sequence, going through the team (Ruby, then Weiss, then Blake, then Yang, then Ruby). Tags, Characters, and Relationships will be added as the story and the world progress, with plans to include the majority of the RWBY cast at least once.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Adam Taurus, Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Coco Adel/Flynt Coal, Ilia Amitola/Weiss Schnee, Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Mercury Black/Emerald Sustrai, Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	1. Daydreams and Pizza (Ruby - 1)

The world around the sniper was silent. A single silver eye peered through the scope of her weapon, a modified collapsible scythe that was capable of shooting high velocity armor piercing rounds, rounds intended to slay the beast that had just come into her view. Taking a slow and steady breath, the young girl lifted her finger to the trigger, a light pressure being applied as she did her best to remain calm and collected. A breeze blew past her, causing the cape of crimson to bellow down her back, a light sound hidden within the sound of leaves rustling from the canopy she resided in.

As the wind picked up slightly, the red hood blew off of her head to reveal her blackened hair beneath. The tips of each strand matched that of her cape, and her hair began to dance atop her head as the wind continued to increase in power. With wind catching in the leaves, the branch the girl was perched on began to creak causing her perfectly aligned scope to begin to sway. Thoughts began to fill her mind as she tried mentally recalculating the shot she’d have to make. Accounting for wind carrying the bullet to one side or the other during the distance to the target, gravity pulling the round in a downwards arc, as well as her own competence to line up the shot on a moving target while the tree around her rocked and groaned… It was all beginning to take a toll on her mind and an anxiety began to build up within her.

One job. She had one job as a scout and that was to take the lead, find the target, and if possible use the element of surprise to eliminate it before any other of the creatures showed up. The creature in question, a shadowy quadruped slinking through the forest, was known as a creature of Grimm. She’d been hired alongside her partner to slay the creature that had been terrorizing a local village, a job they would be paid handsomely for upon completion, and she closed her eyes as she tried to quiet her mind. 

Worries and fears about failure had filled her mind, causing her to second guess herself in regards to the perfect shot she’d initially set up. With so much as a breeze she’d let herself be filled with doubt and it was taking a great deal of willpower to shut those feelings out. Then another thought filled her head. A thought all too relevant to the job she was currently on.

Opening her eyes in a panic, the girl glanced down the scope of Crescent Rose. In the brief moment of hesitation when she had closed her eyes, the creature had sensed her hesitation and fear. It vanished entirely from her sight, and moving her head from the scope to get a broader view of her surroundings she found herself unable to find the creature. The world returned to silence, the light breeze through the leaves the only sound she could hear, until a series of snapping sounds from a tree several yards to her left caught her attention.

Her reflexes were sharp, though when it came to avoiding this beast they were apparently not sharp enough. A clawed appendage had taken a swipe at her as the beast dove through the tree line, a black blur dashing across her vision as she fell back from the branch, using the bladed portion of her scythe to swing down and off of the branch while slicing it clean off. Her arm was sore, though adrenaline was already numbing the pain as she watched blood begin to soak into her already blackened garments. This wound would need to be addressed, yes, but that would have to be a matter for another day.

Landing on a lower branch, she listened carefully as her silver eyes glanced in the direction the beast had dove. The single second she’d spent looking at the wound on her arm had apparently been more than enough time for the beast to slam into the next tree over and kick off in her direction. This time her reflexes failed entirely, and she felt the wind get knocked out of her as the creature slammed square into her chest, sending her tumbling down from the trees into the undergrowth below.

A ringing came into her ears as she slammed into the soft earth below. Her eyes watered as she glanced up at her weapon which had fallen a short distance and cut into a branch too high for her to reach. The shadow above continued to dash between the trees as a shrill voice cut through the ringing.

“Ruby!” It was a voice she was familiar with, the voice of her partner, and Ruby opened her mouth to call back but found the air had yet to properly return to her lungs. Rolling from the ground, the young girl slowly stood up, dusting off leaves and dirt from the black and crimson combat skirt that adorned her body. With the constant ringing in her ears, it was difficult to pinpoint the source of the yelling, though she still trudged forward through the forest in hopes to find her partner before the Grimm did.

“Ruby!” Louder this time, a sign that at the very least she was getting closer, the voice continued to call to her. To her confusion however, there was a hint of frustration to the shouts, more than the call of fear that she was expecting. Was Weiss really planning on lecturing her failure while their lives were still in danger? Pausing in her stride, Ruby’s eyes flicked from one identical tree to the next, trying to make heads or tails of which direction the voice was coming from. Although she’d stopped moving, the voice continued to get louder and louder, before it felt like Weiss was shouting directly into her ears.

“RUBY!”

Light quickly blinded the girl as her eyes opened to the world. Her mind was filled with confusion in regards to a number of questions that had sprung up, though just as quickly as they’d begun to form in her brain they were answered just as fast.

“Huh. Wha-” Wincing slightly at the pain of light hitting her eyes as they adjusted from the darkness provided by her eyelids, Ruby quickly put all the pieces of the mystery together as she turned her head to look at the source of the yelling. It looked as if, despite the state of sleep she’d been in, the shouts of her partner had made their way into her dreams and pulled her from them. Although the shouting had stopped, Ruby took a mental note that the ringing had not, and she turned from the light to look at the girl beside her.

Weiss Schnee, a girl her own age with snowy white hair pinned up in a waist length ponytail, stared daggers at the groggy girl before pointing a well manicured finger to a black device sitting on the smooth red surface beside them. Squinting at the device, Ruby quickly recognized it as the source of the ringing sound, and she turned back to Weiss unsure of what she was supposed to do next.

“Answer it you dolt.” Weiss frowned, her baby blue eyes rolling in their sockets as she crossed her arms and began to tap her foot impatiently. The tile floor clicked beneath her foot with each tap before she gestured again to the device.

“Oh uhh, right.” Shaking her head in an attempt to wake herself up even a little, Ruby extended a hand nervously towards the handset as it continued to ring with a red light blinking upwards at her. As the ringing ended, the phone clutched tightly in her hand, Ruby raised the speaker to her ear before freezing in place. Her brow furrowed in concentration as she desperately tried to remember the next step, and her eyes slowly looking to Weiss in desperation, the other girl leaning forward expectantly before shaking her head and frowning.

Ruby bit her lower lip as she started to panic, her mouth starting to open and close on repeat with no idea of what to do next. She continued to stare at Weiss, the girl slowly mouthing the words silently to Ruby, and suddenly it all came back to her.

“Patch Pizza, how can we help you today?” Even on edge as she was, Ruby was able to loosen up ever so slightly as Weiss gave the tiniest hint of a smile. With a nod and a thumbs up, Ruby smiled into the phone and eased up even more as a familiar voice came through.

“Ruby? Is that you? I had no idea you worked at Patch Pizza! Oh my gosh how are you?” The english accent was unmistakable as the voice of Velvet Scarletina, a fellow graduate from Signal High School, came through the speaker.

“Velvet! Oh hey! Yeah, Yang got me the job. I’m still in training but so far it’s been great!” Grinning ear to ear, Ruby watched as Weiss continued to watch her, making a gesturing motion with her hands as if she needed to hurry up. “Ah, anyways. What would you like to order?”

Velvet’s voice came through the speaker again, though it sounded far away and somewhat muffled. Ruby tilted her head in confusion as another voice seemed to come from even further away, before a more clear and easier to understand Velvet began speaking to her again.

“Okay we’ll need two large pizzas, the first all veggies and extra cheese. The second pizza we need half meat lovers and the other half just pepperoni. If we could get some breadsticks and garlic sauce too, that’d be lovely!” There was a lengthy pause as Ruby stared down at the computer screen in front of her. There were numerous menu options, and after clicking on the first to begin placing the order, she realized she was staring at a number of dessert options instead of the pizza building option she thought she’d clicked on. Attempting to go back, Ruby pressed her finger hard against the touch screen once, and then twice, as it failed to respond to her touches. With the pressure of Weiss beside her and Velvet waiting patiently on the other end of the line, she furrowed her brow and pressed harder and harder, her finger bending more and more as the screen threatened to break at her touch.

“Ah ah, calm down. Here, let me handle this one.” Weiss extended her arm towards Ruby, smooth and pale until it reached the red and white striped uniform at her elbow, and flexed her fingers to request the phone from Ruby. “Go ahead and tell the two in the back the order so they can get started on it, and I’ll finish up here.”

Visibly disappointed, Ruby lowered the handset from her ear and dropped it into Weiss’s clasp. In an instant it was by her ear, and Weiss apologized briefly to Velvet before asking her if she could repeat the order. As Weiss began to effortlessly tap away at the screen, menu options appearing and disappearing as she filled out the order in moments, the visibly deflated and slouching Ruby made her way past the coffee and soft drink dispensers towards a door in the corner. Her hand pressed into the red swinging door, and at a snail's pace, she made her way back into the kitchen portion where the food was made and packaged.

The kitchen was spacious, stoves and massive wooden pizza peels filled up nearly the entire left wall, while the center of the space was dedicated primarily to tables with ready to cook ingredients filling up labeled containers. In the back was the freezer, a huge metal vault-like door to a room containing even more ingredients as well as the premade dough of various shapes and sizes. Ruby had been given the briefest of tours regarding the preparation area, but neither Weiss nor Yang trusted her enough to let her work with anything so dangerous as a stove or even a pizza cutter. Instead, that job remained in the hands of her other two coworkers at the pizza place.

“It’s a bit of a romance novel, but the Hero is in love with the Villain, so there’s a lot of drama there…” Opposite the stoves sitting in a pair of chairs were the other two members of Patch Pizza. Ilia Amitola was leaning over from her seat to scan over the pages of an open book resting on the leg of the other, Blake Belladonna.

Ilia had been the other most recent hire, though she’d been there longer than Ruby by a few months. Like Weiss, she had a waist length ponytail, though a shade more akin to milk chocolate than white. Similar blue eyes were constantly moving from the pages to the girl explaining their meaning, a tan and freckled complexion reaching out to press an index finger gently along the pages as she pretended to skim the pages.

Blake Belladonna had been there a much longer time, having started working with Yang as soon as the pair were able so far back as high school. Lengthy black hair heavily contrasted the white and red striped uniform they were required to wear, though she still kept on fingerless black gloves and a headband with cat ears despite the policy of the company. Regardless, nobody quite said anything, and she smiled softly down at the book in her hands as amber eyes skimmed side to side.

The pair seemed so gleefully enamoured in discussing the novel that they hadn’t noticed Ruby enter. Not that she minded, given the glum state she’d found herself in.

Raising a hand and trying to wave to the pair to get the attention, Ruby was interrupted before she had the chance to speak by a dinging sound above her head. Turning and glancing upwards, she watched as the order she was meant to deliver appeared on the monitor overhead, and the two girls that had been distracted from work immediately looked up as well.

“Oh, hey Ruby. Did you need something?” Blake tilted her head as Ruby lowered her hand and instead let out a heavy sigh, shaking her head side to side as the one other thing she’d hoped to do right had been done for her. Beside her, Ilia had seemed to jump rather quickly to the next seat over, suddenly keeping her distance from Blake and giving an awkwardly bashful smile in Ruby’s direction.

“No… no. Not anymore.” Letting her head drop again, in a rather overly dramatic fashion, Ruby turned back towards the swinging door and shuffled back towards the front counter with a clear aura of gloom and depression floating around her. Ilia and Blake gave a glance to one another and shrugged before getting up from their seats and preparing the order.

In the front, Weiss had already ended the call with Velvet and was printing out the receipt to the order, placing it gently on the counter to be taken with her when she made the delivery later. Giving a sideways glance to a depressed Ruby, Weiss stepped towards her and put a gentle hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, it was your first order. Trust me, when I started I froze up just like you! It just takes time, you’ll be a natural at this in no time.” Offering a somewhat encouraging half truth to Ruby, Weiss flashed a flawlessly white smile that seemed to put at least a little bit of pep back into the girl.

“Really? I could never picture you freezing up like that! Guess this job is harder than I thought, but at least I got the phone part down! If it’s that hard then I’m already doing like, really good then!” An instant later, Ruby had her fist in the air, still playing out the dramatics as she squirmed in excitement and quickly resumed her position beside Weiss behind the counter.

“Yeah sure, whatever floats your boat.” Weiss gave a light chuckle at the sudden 180 that Ruby’s mood had taken, and the pair let silence fill the air around them as they gazed across the small and empty space reserved for anyone that dined in at the establishment.

Cleaned and waxed floors with a black and white checkerboard pattern lay beneath four sets of identical and red tables, each with a trio of chairs around them. It was a tiny area for people to dine in, though it was very rare that anyone actually stayed to eat their pizza in the restaurant itself. Even the rare and in between people that actually came into the shop to place their orders would leave once their food had been handed off, so the pair found themselves with very little to do aside from waiting for the phone to ring, or in Weiss’s case, delivering the orders.

“You interrupted my dream by the way.” Ruby pouted, turning her head from Weiss as she pursed her lips and crossed her arms.

“Excuse me?” Weiss’s eyebrow lifted high on her face as she turned to Ruby without the slightest idea as to what she was referring to.

“There was a really scary thing called Grimm, and I was totally gonna kick its ass. Then you started to yell, so I was worried it was going to get you, and I ran and ran and then you woke me up before I could rescue you!” Ruby stomped on the floor, hands balled up in frustration as she turned to face back towards Weiss, her voice carrying clear tones of irritation.

“Okay first of all, you shouldn’t have been sleeping at work in the first place. It’s a miracle that you can sleep on the counter while bent over at some strange ninety degree angle. Secondly, even if there was some spooky creature, I highly doubt you’d be able to protect me any better than I can protect myself. I mean, you can’t even answ-” Weiss stopped herself from finishing that particular statement as she saw the irritation in Ruby’s eyes start to gravitate back towards the slump she’d been in a minute ago.

As if answering her prayer for any form of distraction, a bell behind the pair dinged.

“Order up! Two large, one veggie lover, the other half meat half pepperoni. Breadsticks and garlic sauce on top.” A small space just behind the girls had a single bell in it, and the hair of Blake Belladonna could be seen flowing behind the girl who had immediately turned back after declaring the order to return to her book. Weiss let out a sigh of relief before turning back to Ruby.

“Alright I’ve got to take care of this delivery. If anyone shows up I have faith you can get through their order, but if anything goes wrong, feel free to go ask Blake or Ilia for help. If you  _ really _ have to, then go bother your sister. Lord knows she stopped doing any real work as soon as she got promoted.” Weiss glanced back through the space behind them, staring as far back into the next room as possible to a locked door with the lights off on the other side. Even if it looked like it would be an empty office, she knew for a fact that their boss and manager Yang Xiao-Long was inside and likely taking a nap just like Ruby had been.

“But… but… but…” Ruby pleaded as she quickly reached out to grab Weiss’s wrist before she could get too far away. Weiss effortlessly tore it free and continued to step away from Ruby.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be back before you know it, and if I’m late we have that ridiculous policy that their pizza is free or refunded back to them. Besides, the sooner you let me leave the sooner I can get back, okay?” Weiss pushed open the swinging door to the back and looked back at Ruby a final time. The girl had her hand clenched together in front of her, practically begging Weiss to stay. “Everything is going to be fine, I promise.”

Not giving Ruby another second to plead that she stay by her side, Weiss pushed through the door and let it swing back behind her, leaving Ruby alone at the counter.

Ruby practically crawled up on the counter with the soft drinker dispenser and peered over the bell to get a view of the back kitchen. Her eyes met Weiss, and she did her best to make them as wide and sad as she could, but as Weiss hefted up the heating bag containing the food she turned back away from Ruby and exited a side door into the parking lot without another word. Still pouting, Ruby’s eyes fell on Ilia and Blake, who had resumed sitting together. Squirming back down from the table, Ruby stared blankly outside with her anxiety on full blast.

Every second that passed had Ruby’s eyes jumping from space to space in the restaurant. She attempted to keep her mind occupied by counting the tiles on the floor, but the black and white pattern caused her to begin feeling dizzy. Instead she checked the clock, thinking that already plenty of time had passed and that Weiss would be back any moment, only to find that it had hardly been more than a minute. Clenching and unclenching her hands, Ruby turned back to glance into the kitchen to try and peek in on Ilia and Blake. She wondered what kind of book they’d been reading. She’d briefly heard Blake describe it as a romance novel, which normally would be unappealing to Ruby, but at this point it could be a textbook on physics and she’d rather be sitting in the back listening to a lecture than be alone behind the counter.

Much like the Grimm sensing her fear in the dream, it was as if a predator was approaching while her back was turned, and her hairs stood on end as the bell to the restaurant dinged. Not only had it not been a phone call she could easily hand off to someone else, but it was in person customers that would’ve already spotted her behind the counter, not giving her a moment to try and escape into and back and force someone else to take her place. She turned, hoping against hope that by some miracle something had inadvertently hit the door hard enough to open it, but as the front of the store came into view she saw not one, but two people entering the building.

Once more, against all odds, Ruby felt a sense of comfort as she recognized the two entering the build. However, part of this comfort turned back to dread as the gray haired boy began to vocalize frustrations before they’d even broken the threshold of the doorway.

“Damn rubber bumps...can’t anyone make a proper door that isn’t a complete pain in the ass to get through?” 

“You know that we can’t expect every door to be designed specifically for you right?”

Ruby watched as a wheelchair briefly struggled to get through the door, the small rubber bumps beneath the door meant to keep it from slamming shut acting as a minor obstacle, before with a grunt and a heave the chair crossed the surface. As if looking for a target for his wrath, Mercury Black’s eyes fell to Ruby, who stood helpless behind the counter. With narrow eyes, Mercury seemed like he went to say something, before he was cut off by his companion.

“Ruby! Wow, it feels like I haven’t seen you in ages. How are you doing?” Emerald Sustrai, a girl from the year ahead of Ruby, waved politely in her direction as she approached the counter with Mercury. With a low cut shirt revealing quite a bit of her dark complexion, Emerald leaned forward on the counter as she gazed up at the variety of order options.

“Oh, you know, alright I guess.” Ruby chuckled awkwardly, thankful that Emerald had been the one to initiate conversation, and she did her best to avoid making eye contact with Mercury.

“Well, that’s good. Hopefully Yang isn’t working you too hard, I heard she got promoted! If you see her, tell her I said congrats!” Emerald turned her gaze back to Ruby, her red eyes meeting Ruby’s silver, before she turned to look down at Mercury. “Know what you want?”

“Please, as if I ever order anything different. I’m gonna find a seat, don’t take too long, got it?” Rolling his eyes, Mercury rolled back in the chair and to the side, before turning opposite the counter and pulling up beside a table by the window. Once there, he reached into a bag handing over the right arm and dug out a comic book.

“Is he uhh, alright?” Despite having never known Mercury as a cheery fellow, he seemed to be in a particularly sour mood that day, and Emerald followed Ruby’s gaze towards the front of the store.

“He’s fine, just one of those days. They happen every so often, but I don’t want to bog you down with our problems. Mind if I order really quick so we can get out of your hair?” Turning back to Ruby, Emerald’s eyes scanned the options through minty green hair a final time.

“Yeah! Of course!” Realizing she had a job to do, Ruby scooted to the active register and took a deep breath to steady herself. Emerald raised a brow, though she didn’t comment on Ruby’s obvious nerves, and instead waited patiently for the younger girl to collect herself.

“Ready?” Emerald watched as Ruby hesitantly tapped the screen before her, before a pleased and somewhat surprised expression crossed her face, and she nodded. “Great! Could we get a single large pizza, half cheese, half pepperoni, and a side order of cinnamon twists and icing?”

“Of course!” Ruby felt rather proud that she’d managed to find the pizza customization screen with minimal trouble the second time around. Furthermore, after her accident earlier, she was already familiar with how to find the desserts as well, and although it took a minute or two longer than Weiss, Ruby managed to create the order. She of course did her best to hide her excitement, but Emerald still chuckled as she watched the girl practically hop in place as the order came up on screen. Taking note of the price, Emerald provided enough cash to cover the order, got her change, and thanked Ruby.

“Thank you so much. I’ll be over by Mercury when it’s ready, though we won’t be staying.” Emerald sensed that letting Ruby know they’d be leaving would provide the girl a little bit of comfort, and she could see some of the remaining stress in the girl fade away.

“I’ll bring it out as soon as it's finished! Thank you for choosing Patch Pizza!” Ruby felt a sudden wave of awkwardness flood her body as she said the farewell phrase of the company. She’d said it dozens of times when she was training with Weiss, but to say it out loud to a customer, and furthermore to someone she actually knew, caused her to cringe internally. Fortunately, Emerald didn’t so much as react as she pulled up a seat beside Mercury.

Left to simply wait out the clock, Ruby couldn’t help but watch as Mercury described the pages of his comic to Emerald, who was asking dozens of questions in an attempt to get context. Leaning forward on the table, Ruby strained her ears to try and eavesdrop on the conversation, so much so that she was practically laying on top of the table. It was her hopes that she would be able to hear even the tiniest sliver of information without being seen, when she suddenly let out a yelp as a shrill noise behind her caught her off guard.

“Order up! Half cheese, half pepperoni, side order of cinnamon twists!” Despite the fact it was the  _ only _ order being processed, it had been a formed habit to announce the contents of every completed delivery to doubly ensure it was correct. Ruby quickly removed herself from the table before either Mercury or Emerald could see her, and prayed they hadn’t heard that awful noise she’d just made.

Turning back to the window with the bell, Ruby could see that Blake had left the order she’d announced for her to grab, with a larger pizza box placed beneath a smaller desert box. Grabbing the warm cardboard surface, Ruby pulled the order and turned back to face the counter only to shriek in surprise once more.

“Woah there, I got it.” Having expected to bring the order to the front of the store, Ruby was shocked to find Emerald had instead approached the counter just in time to catch the pizza box before Ruby dropped from her sudden presence. “Thanks a bunch!”

Ruby sighed as she released the order, thankful that it was Emerald of all people who she was dealing with. Knowing for a fact she’d heard the second shriek but had the courtesy not to comment, Ruby felt the smallest bit more confident in her skills as she watched Emerald approach the door to the store, holding it open with one hand as Mercury rolled his way over the rubber stops and out into the summer sun. With a final wave farewell, Emerald let the door close behind her, and Ruby was once more left alone.

Relieved, she leaned once more against the counter, feeling drained from the encounter. This exhaustion found itself mixed with pride, however, as she fantasized about telling Weiss of the experience. She was certain she’d be commended for a job well done, and as her mind filled with thoughts of how the conversation would go, she gently set her head down on the counter and dozed off once more.


	2. Delivery & Debate (Weiss - 1)

Weiss grumbled as the door to the passenger side of the delivery vehicle swung open and released a wave of heat. The summer sun above had turned the inside of the car into a sauna, and with a sigh she placed the insulated pizza bag on the roof. Stepping to the side, Weiss decided to give the car a minute to air out, and took in her surroundings. 

Patch was a peaceful town that Weiss had grown rather fond of in her time there, having moved from her town of Atlas with her mother after a rather messy divorce. There had been a certain level of adjustment, both in changing schools, leaving behind her brother and father, as well as learning about what her mother had described as,  _ ‘small town living’ _ . Her eyes scanned the empty parking lot and the spacing between the single story buildings around her, recalling the towering skyscrapers not even an inch apart in Atlas.

_ Small town indeed… _

Lost in thought, Weiss’s ear twitched as she heard the bell to the pizza shop ring just around the corner. With a hint of concern, she gave a worried glance towards the door she’d exited from a minute ago and debated heading back inside. With her skills she had no doubt she could easily complete a quick order before leaving the rest to Ruby, but knowing the girl could use the experience she instead simply shook her head. Waving her hand just inside the door to check the temperature of the car, Weiss moved the delivery from the roof to the passenger seat before crossing to the other side and buckling herself into the driver’s seat.

“She’ll be fine.” Reassuring herself that starting the delivery was the appropriate course of action, Weiss put the car in gear and pulled away from the pizzeria.

The roads themselves had become the fastest part of small town living that she’d grown to appreciate. During her delivery, as was often the case, there were only ever a small handful of other vehicles that shared the roads with her as she went. Weiss found that there was a quiet peace as a breeze blew gently through the window, rolled down just a crack, and she let out a cheerful sigh as the GPS in the vehicle directed her to Velvet’s address. However, this moment of peace was suddenly lost to her as Weiss felt her cell phone begin to vibrate in her pocket.

“Who could possibly…” Grumbling slightly, eyes still on the road, Weiss wondered aloud who would be calling her midway through her delivery. Immediately her mind went to Ruby, perhaps having a meltdown with whomever Weiss had heard enter the shop. Still, something told her this wasn’t the case. If it were Ruby she would have either called much sooner, or more likely, would’ve gone to Blake or Ilia if she  _ really _ needed help. Deciding not to worry, Weiss simply shrugged off her various theories, imagining that if it was truly important then whoever it was would leave a voicemail.

Unfortunately for Weiss, after a short moment of pause where her phone had stopped vibrating, another call immediately followed the first. At this point she felt a growing concern that there might be an emergency that required her attention, and her eyes scanned the sides of the neighborhood she was traveling through for a potential place to pull over. Contemplating a number of empty driveways and street parking options, Weiss's eyes briefly glimpsed over the GPS. and she was surprised to find that she was practically at her destination already. Holding out a little bit longer, the phone fell silent once again just as she pulled in front of a modestly sized brown bricked home.

“Now then…” Fishing her mobile from her pocket, the pad of her finger tapped against the fingerprint scanner on the back as the slim device lit up. Unlocking at her touch, she could see that she had two missed calls but no new voicemails. Pursing her lips curiously, she checked the calls for a number or ID and immediately rolled her eyes as her brother Whitley’s name appeared. A combination of annoyance and relief flowed through Weiss who was thankful that there was no emergency, yet aggravated at the mere thought of a conversation with her brother.

Putting the phone away, Weiss decided she would complete the delivery before returning her younger siblings call, and stepped out from the vehicle. Reaching back inside, Weiss leaned across to the passenger seat and withdrew both a company hat and the insulated case containing two pizza boxes and a container of breadsticks, an order that she quickly double checked by opening the flap and peeking inside. Satisfied that everything was in order, Weiss shut the car door, effortlessly weaved her ponytail through the back of the hat with one hand, and walked up a narrow stone path to the red wooden door at the front of the house. With the back of her knuckle, Weiss gave a series of knocks to announce her arrival, and took a step back from the doorway.

“I’ve got it!”

A voice familiar to Weiss, both because she knew the girl it belonged to as well as the fact she’d spoken to her on the phone less than 20 minutes ago, could be heard shouting from the other side of the door. Moments later, a brown eyed girl was smiling brightly towards Weiss, taking a second to brush waist length chocolate colored hair from her eyes as she opened the door inwards.

“Wow, you got here quick.” Velvet Scarlatina glanced at the silver colored watch on her wrist, chuckling slightly. “No free pizza for me it seems.”

“Not this time I’m afraid.” Forcing her own small bit of laughter, Weiss pulled the order from the insulated bag with the receipt still on top, and handed it off to Velvet.

Setting the pizza aside, Velvet glanced quickly at the receipt to double check the price and reached into her jean pocket to withdraw a small coin purse. As she counted out the money, Weiss couldn’t help but glance past the girl into the empty hall behind her. The hallway looked to be the length of the house, containing several rooms at various intervals with closed doors and a handful of paintings she couldn’t identify. Still gazing inside the home, Weiss noted the lingering silence, and attempted to avoid any awkwardness by trying to make some small talk.

“So do you have company over, or is all this pizza for yourself?” Weiss struggled to come up with anything to talk about, and immediately felt a pang of stupidity as she joked about Velvet eating the entire order on her own. Both over the phone and just before the door opened she’d heard the other girl talk to other people, so of course she had company. Feeling her eye twitch, Weiss was thankful that Velvet simply shook her head with another laugh.

“Oh no way, I couldn’t  _ dream _ of eating this much food on my own. Coco invited Flynt and Neon over so we thought we’d order something to eat, though the latter is off rollerblading somewhere so I don’t know how much she’ll end up eating. Since Yatsuhashi and Fox are still at work, for now, it's just the three of us! Until Neon gets back anyways...” Velvet bit her lip slightly, pausing a moment with the bills folded neatly in her hand. Shaking her head, she resumed smiling as she provided exact change for the delivery followed by a generous tip, something Weiss was thankful for. “I don’t suppose you’re off work any time soon? Could always swing by later if you wanted, I’m sure even once Yatsu and Fox get back we’ll have leftovers.”

“Ahh…” Weiss hesitated, knowing that she worked for another three hours, but could tell that Velvet was currently trapped as a third wheel. Internally she debated the pros and cons of calling off work early to help the girl out, but eventually her responsibilities won out. “I’m afraid by the time I get off work it’ll be too late to go anywhere. If it were any other day I’d definitely take you up on that though. Rain check?”

“Totally! No, I mean I get it.” Blushing slightly, feeling a little embarrassed for extending the offer while Weiss was still working, Velvet nodded and anxiously rubbed the back of her head. “Well, I should probably let you get back to it then. Time is money and all that.”

“Next time. for sure.” With a final nod to Velvet, still wearing her customer service smile, Weiss watched as Velvet picked up the stack of boxes with one hand and closed the door with the other. Loosening up her shoulders, thankful that the awkward encounter had ended, Weiss took a deep breath and turned to walk back down the path to the car. Tossing the empty insulated bag inside, Weiss slumped into the driver’s seat and pulled her phone back out with a grumble.

_ Well at least this can’t go any worse than that… _

Putting the device to her ear, having hit the return call button on Whitley’s earlier missed calls, Weiss listened as her phone rang once before a voice spoke from the other end.

“Whitley Schnee, might I ask who's calling?” Rolling her eyes, Weiss could already tell she was going to regret this conversation.

“Weiss Schnee, simply returning your missed call.” Feeling smarmy, Weiss returned the overly proper tone that Whitley had taken with her.

“Sister! My, it’s been quite some time! I’d assumed that after you failed to pick up  _ twice  _ that I  _ must _ have called the wrong number! Tell me, how are you?” Even if she couldn’t see his face, Weiss imagined her brother’s pale tones and blue eyes looking rather smug as he made a spectacle of their call.

“I’m doing well, thank you for asking. I apologize for not returning your calls sooner, it’s just that I’m currently working and was in the middle of a financial exchange when you called.” Despite the ‘professionalism’ the pair had been maintaining with one another, Weiss could hear her brother suppressing a chuckle.

“Ah yes, your job as, what was it again? A delivery driver for a pizza shop? Although I suppose when you’re not driving around you also double as a cashier. Do I have that right?” There was a pause as Whitley composed himself, Weiss taking the opportunity to glare daggers at the device, before her brother continued. “My apologies, I simply found it difficult to believe you're still performing such menial tasks with an offer like Father’s on the table. Of course, I assume you haven’t received the details of his newest offer, given both you and Mother have blocked every line he’s used to contact the both of you thus far.”

Whitley’s tone changed rather drastically, his voice turning icy, and Weiss could tell the phony formalities had ended.

“So  _ naturally _ Father uses you as a messenger, taking advantage of the fact we’re still willing to pick up your calls, to have you make the offer in his place?” Weiss returned the frigidity of her brother, wishing that she could block his number as well. Her mother had made her promise that they would never cut out Whitley entirely, that he was merely unfortunate in getting the majority of his personality from their father, and that it would be wrong to punish him for something so far beyond his control.

“Despite your feelings towards Father,  _ I’m _ looking out for you. A delivery job is beneath a Schnee, and the work you’d perform at his company would both be easier  _ and _ pay far more than you could ever dream of making in Patch. Come home Weiss.” There was the slightest change in his tone as Whitley requested she return to Atlas. It sounded less rehearsed than the rest of his offer, and she wondered if part of him truly did miss her. All the same, the spite she felt for her Father far outweighed the tiniest of sympathies for her brother, and she didn’t hesitate to decline.

“Much as I’ve done dozens of times in the past, I must politely decline. As wonderful as the offer is, I have responsibilities  _ here _ , and right now I have a job to return to. I’m sure you understand.” Weiss smiled sarcastically at her phone. She knew full well, of course, that Whitley had no way of seeing her, but performing the action brought her the smallest hint of satisfaction.

“Ah yes, responsible Weiss. At the very least, I'm glad to hear that that part of you hasn’t changed. Father drones on and on about Patch corrupting his poor daughter and bringing shame on the family name. He’s worried you’ll fall in with a bad crowd and start attending all sorts of wild parties. I can only imagine how he'd react should you end up following in M-”

Weiss’s body was shaking. A combination of rage and pain had taken over as she hung up on her brother before he could finish his sentence. Even if he hadn’t the opportunity to finish his thought, her mind had finished it for him, and she threw her phone against the bag beside her. Fists clenched in her lap, Weiss glared at the steering wheeling of the vehicle and did all she could to fight back tears. Whitley knew exactly how to get under her skin, and as much as Weiss loved her mother, the both of them were well aware of the vices that had taken over her life.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, Weiss was pulled from thoughts of her family by a tapping against the passenger window. Blinking and looking to the side, she found herself staring into sea green eyes beneath short red-orange bangs. A pair of turquoise streaks dyed a short length of hair above each of the girl's eyes, and she nodded her head upwards with a grin, the pair of pigtails her hair was tied back in bobbing slightly with the action.

“Sup.”

Weiss furrowed her brow, hitting a button on her door to roll down the passenger window. 

“Um, hey Neon. The pizza’s already inside and paid for if that’s what you’re looking for. I was actually just leaving.” Hoping it wasn’t obvious what an emotional wreck she was in that moment, Weiss went to hit the button to roll the window back up, but was surprised to find Neon had given no signs she was done talking.

When Weiss had first met her, Neon Katt had seemed like the type of girl Whitley was referring to when he mentioned a bad crowd. The girl was absolutely obsessed with partying, claiming to have attended every high school party that had ever been hosted regardless of whether she’d been invited or not. Despite her party girl reputation however, Neon was notorious for never having had so much as a drink at any event. In some small fashion, Weiss respected the carefree nature of the girl.

“That’s cool, but I had a question.” Neon leaned forward, resting her crossed arms on top of the lowered window, and grinned eagerly. “Any chance you know any good vocalists?”

“Umm…” Weiss blinked in confusion, staring at the girl leaning against her vehicle, and hesitantly shook her head. “Not really? I mean I used to sing but-”

“No way! _ You _ used to  _ sing _ !?” It was difficult to tell if Neon was more surprised or excited by Weiss’s response, but as the girl beamed eagerly in her direction Weiss quickly attempted to backpedal.

“It was a long time ago, when I was a little girl, and it was more classical than I’m sure you’re looking for. I don't really sing anymore.” Blushing, Weiss watched as Neon visibly seemed to deflate in disappointment. “Out of curiosity, why do you ask?”

In less than a second Neon’s smile had returned before she turned from Weiss to dig through the bag she had slung over her shoulder. Pulling out a sheet of paper, she handed a flyer across to Weiss.

“ _ Creature Slayerz? _ ” Skimming across the sheet, Weiss read over an advertisement for a band seeking a vocalist. Described as a cross between rock and electronic music, Weiss couldn’t help but give a slightly amused look towards Neon as she read the name of the group out loud.

“I know I know, it’s a little cringey. We’re still workshopping something to replace ‘creature’, but we’re pretty sold on  _ Slayerz _ . Call it cliché, but clichés are clichés for a reason, am I right?” Grinning, she turned back to pull out a small stack of identical sheets, and lifted them up and through the window. “Hey, I don’t suppose it’d be too much trouble to hang these up at the pizza place would it? I’ve been rolling all around town putting up posters everywhere but Cardin and his crew keep tearing em down. Bunch of assholes right?”

“I uhh…” Before Weiss could even think of a response, Neon had already dropped the small pile onto the insulation bag, and she let out a defeated sigh. “Sure, no problem.”

“Awesome! This is like  _ totally _ gonna help us get exposure. You rock.” Winking towards her, Neon stood back up from the window and took a few steps back with a wave. “If you change your mind give me a call. Classical or not, I’m sure we could remix it into something wild! It’s _crazy_ the stuff you can do with computers these days. Anyways, give it some thought, I bet you’d be killer on the mic.”

Without another word Neon began to rollerblade away. Glancing towards the stack of papers, Weiss supposed she may as well stick them up around the pizzeria, but as she stared at the flyer still in her hand she couldn’t help but recall the dreadful conversation from earlier. Her father was so worried about her falling into a bad crowd, and she couldn’t help but grin as she imagined his reaction if she were to join a band and start hanging out with a girl like Neon. Heart racing, having never before even contemplated such an idea in the past, Weiss quickly opened the door and called Neon back to express her newfound desire to return to the stage.


	3. Surprise Guest (Blake - 1)

Amber eyes skimmed across the pages of the romance novel in the lap of a smiling girl wearing a red and white striped uniform that matched her coworkers. Blake Belladonna’s day had been rather pleasant, if not a little lackluster, but it was part of the reason she’d chosen a pizzeria of all places to work. The manager, Yang Xiao-Long, had gone to school with her and was incredibly laid back as far as employers went. This meant she could put in as little effort as possible with plenty of down time for reading the newest book she’d added to her collection without the risk of getting fired.

To her small frustration however, some of her other coworkers contrasted her personality greatly, from the perfectionist Weiss Schnee who would harass her for slacking off to the younger sister of Yang who couldn’t seem to get  _ anything _ right. Along with hiring Ruby however, Blake had found solace in the other new hire currently glancing over her shoulder and reading along with her. Ilia Amitola had been a fellow outcast of sorts at Patch High, and therefore the two had crossed paths rather frequently when trying to find quiet places to spend their free time. The two had even gone so far as to plan times to ditch class together and go on walks wherein Blake would spend their time together regaling Ilia with tales of fantasy and romance from whatever series had most recently sucked her in. To take it a step further and spend their time reading together while working at a pizza place was certainly a strange way to spend their summer, but Blake cherished the fact the two could spend their time like this while receiving a paycheck, even if they had to wear hideous uniforms the entire time.

_ A small price to pay… _

“Oh, could you go back! Sorry, I was almost done I swear!” Blake turned to look up at the blue eyed girl giving an awkward smile as she pointed down at the page that had just been turned. As much as she enjoyed the company and having someone to read and talk with there were times where Ilia seemed to lag behind and Blake would be forced to pause her own progress to let her catch up. 

“Of course! This is a good part so I’d hate for you to get caught off guard.” Chuckling to herself, hoping to hide her frustration from both Ilia and herself, Blake turned the page back to the previous and let herself get lost in thought about what might happen next. As she glanced from the page, however, she became further lost in thought about the pizzeria and couldn’t help but frown about how mundane her surroundings were compared to the adventure going on in her head.

As peppy as Yang tended to be around the crew, there was very little that could ever be done to pep Blake up enough when it came to making pizzas. Neither difficult nor exciting, to Blake this would forever be a job and nothing more. Of further annoyance was the fact that, shortly after her second week of employment, Yang’s enthusiasm seemed to all but run out. To Blake this signaled that Yang wasn’t particularly hyped about her job either, and that this was all a show to trick new employees into thinking that their new jobs would be fun, when in fact the opposite was true. If she had to guess this little act would last a few more days just to keep Ruby and Ilia jazzed about their work before things would return to normal.

“Alright, caught up! Thanks, sorry about that.” Apologizing once more, Ilia pulled Blake from her thoughts and the pair returned to reading together for just a moment longer.

The aroma of pizza still lingered in the air around the two as they let silence fall between them. Weiss had left a little bit ago to deliver an order, and just a minute prior Blake and Ilia had served up a second order to Ruby, and it seemed that work had taken pause for now. Moments like this had become favorites, though a sudden vibration in her pocket caused her to break concentration once more.

“Just a sec…” Blake leaned forward to place the book gently on the floor, worried that moving around too much while on her phone would cause the item to topple down and potentially damage it. Ilia seemed to shrink down, and Blake realized just how closely the girl had been hovering as she distanced herself back towards her own chair. Pulling out her phone, she chuckled slightly as even with the lock screen she could see the beginning of a message from a boy she’d given the contact name ‘Banana Boy’.

‘ _ Sup Blake, you still at work? I was thinking Neptune and I might swing by for some food or something if you got a break coming up. Make that Weiss girl cook something for the three of us lol.’ _

Rolling her eyes slightly as she read through the text, Blake couldn’t help but sigh as she realized she was about to turn down Sun Wukong for the third time that week.

‘ _ Weiss is out on a delivery and we’re kinda busy, can’t be slacking off. Sorry :(‘ _

Feeling the tiniest bit of guilt with her minor lie, Blake  _ was _ in fact busy catching up with her reading, and felt rather justified in using work as a more reasonable excuse than a book.

‘ _ Isn’t texting slacking off? :P JK, enjoy work I’ll hit you up later.’ _

‘ _ Sounds good!’ _

Sliding the phone back in her pocket, Blake turned to Ilia and resumed smiling.

“Sorry about that! Just a quick little back and forth with someone. Now then…” Reaching back down, Blake pulled the book back up into her lap with an eager expression, though as she waited for Ilia to take her reading position once more she noticed the girl lost in thought. “Everything alright?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah sorry. I just happened to see the contact out of the corner of my eye. Banana Boy?” Chuckling slightly Ilia watched as Blake’s cheeks flushed slightly. “I was trying to imagine who that could possibly be. That’s not Sun is it?”

“Yeah, I mean, I thought it’d be a funny nickname is all. He  _ did _ have a banana every day for lunch after all.” Still blushing, Blake turned from Illia and stared down at the book trying to figure out where she’d left off, but she could still feel Ilia’s eyes on her.

“Ooooh, now isn’t that cute.” Sticking her tongue out, Ilia teased Blake who quickly closed the book and shook her head.

“No, it’s not like that! I think he might have a small crush on me but I promise you the feeling  _ isn’t _ mutual. He’s just a nice guy and I really don’t want to lead him on…” Trailing off Blake could see Ilia wasn’t entirely convinced, the girl simply giving a smug nod in her direction.

“Hey, if you say so. Good to know there’s options out there for you at least. Though uhh, on the subject,  _ are _ you seeing anybody?” Ilia hesitated before finishing her thought, her own cheeks blushing slightly despite her best efforts to make the question as seemingly casual as possible. Fortunately for Ilia the both of them were embarrassed by the current topic of conversation and neither was making much eye contact with the other.

“Actually…” Before Blake could get another word out however, there was a sudden commotion coming from the front of the store that cut her off.

“Hey, you can’t go back there! There’s a sign and everything!” A shrill voice could be heard shouting through the small window where orders were placed, and the pair of them stood up in a panic at the sound of their distressed coworker. As Ruby continued to shout from the front, the pair could see the door to the back begin to open as a tall man with slicked back auburn hair pushed his way in. With blue eyes beneath a furrowed brow, the man was impressively dressed with a black blazer over a red shirt and matching black dress pants. It was far from the type of individual you’d expect to see in a pizza shop, and as Ruby struggled to get his attention his head instead turned towards Ilia and Blake.

“Ah, there you are.” Immediately his expression seemed to relax, any frustrations from his less than stellar welcome fading as his eyes met Blake’s, and she returned his gaze with a surprised and cheerful smile.

“Adam! What are you doing here, you know I’m at work right?” Laughing as she spoke, the situation seeming so far beyond how she’d imagined her day, Blake quickly closed the distance between the two as Adam stepped into the prep room. Their lips met for a small peck, Blake stepping up on her toes to kiss him, before taking another step back.

“I thought I’d surprise you. I realized I’d never seen where you worked, but I gotta tell you Blake, the welcome was far from warm. That brat up front needs to learn some better customer service.” Smirking to himself, still entirely ignoring that Ruby was behind him, Adam brushed aside a few stray hairs from Blake’s face.

Eyes moving past Adam for just a moment, Blake gave an apologetic look towards Ruby and simply shrugged her shoulders. The other girl had clearly been wounded by Adam’s comment, but Blake’s focus had returned to him in an instant. Feeling rather annoyed with the whole situation, Ruby simply threw her arms up and moved back to the front of the store while mumbling to herself about people ignoring obvious ‘Employee Only’ signs.

“So listen, I’m headed out of town for a few days and there’s a chance you won’t be able to get ahold of me. I’m doing some Adopt-A-Neighborhood work with the church in the next town over, cleaning up a neighborhood’s streets and alleys to try and spruce up the place with the Albains and some of the kids. Supposed to be tech free to lead a good example for the kids, so if I don’t answer texts or calls I don’t want you to worry.” With a soft smile down at Blake, Adam’s eyes briefly moved toward Ilia who returned his gaze with a cold expression. Chuckling slightly he turned his attention back to Blake and leaned down to place another kiss on her lips, ensuring that the moment lingered, before standing tall with another smirk. Stepping forward, he wrapped an arm around Blake’s shoulder and looked to Ilia with a grin. “So who's your friend here?”

“Ah, sorry! Adam, this is Ilia. Ilia, Adam. She’s our newest hire, so I’ve mostly been in charge of teaching her the way we-” Blake grinned, happy that Adam was showing interest in her work, but before she could finish introductions the door behind them could be heard swinging open with an audible groan accompanying it.

“You would not believe what happened on that delivery. There was a phone call, and then Neon skated by…” With a huff, Weiss could be seen backing into the doorway that led directly from the parking lot to the kitchen. In her arms was the emptied pizza warmer as well as a stack of flyers piled on top. Chuckling to herself, still in disbelief over the sequence of events on what she’d imagined to be a rather mundane delivery, Weiss turned to face her coworkers and froze on the spot with her eyes on Adam. “Um, excuse me, who is this?”

“Weiss, it’s okay, I know him.” Blake quickly tried to defend the man wrapped around her, Weiss cocking her head slightly with a raised brown as she set the pile in her arms onto the nearest table. Frowning slightly she gave the man a once over and shook her head.

“You know the rules Blake, employees only. If he wants an application I’d be happy to grab one, but unless he works here-” Weiss glanced towards the back office where she had no doubt Yang was sleeping. She was mostly bluffing about grabbing Adam an application; something about him just seemed to rub her the wrong way despite only having just met.

“He’s not hurting anyone by being back here Weiss. Why do you have to be such a stickler for the rules?” Blake gave Weiss a dirty look, but her eye contact was suddenly broke as Adam removed his arm from her shoulder and took a step forward.

“Adam Taurus. Nice to meet you...Weiss?” Offering a smile, Adam extended a hand outwards towards Weiss, who merely crossed her arms across her chest and shook her head.

“He has to go.  _ Now _ .” As Adam introduced herself, Weiss’s eyes widened for the briefest of seconds, before she leaned to the side to look past him and towards Blake. Giving the order to kick Adam out, she resumed staring coldly at Adam.

The pair continued to stare down one another, Weiss’s eyes narrowing as Adam glared back, and the entire room fell silent as everyone waited to see who would break first. There was a moment of intensity, with Ilia feeling her chest grow tight as she held her breath, before Adam clicked his tongue and withdrew his hand.

“I have to get going anyway.” Turning from Weiss in frustration, Adam returned his attention to Blake, giving the girl a soft smile as he gazed down into her eyes once more. Leaning down, he placed a soft kiss on her forehead and rubbed a gentle thumb across her cheek. “I’ll call you as soon as I’m back in town.”

“Alright.” Blake nodded as Adam’s face pulled away from hers, and she watched as his gaze turned sour with a dirty look towards Weiss. She half expected him to say something, but instead he merely shook his head and walked back towards the door he’d entered from. Immediately after he vanished from sight Blake shot a similarly dirty look towards Weiss.

“What? You  _ know _ the rules. Employees only.” Still with her arms crossed, Weiss stood confident in her decision.

“Whatever, you didn’t have to kick him out like that. He wasn’t doing anything wrong.” With a huff, Blake rolled her eyes and stepped back to the chair she’d been reading in and sat down without another word. Weiss stared at her briefly, letting her eyes roam to Ilia who had remained silent for the encounter, before rolling her own eyes and heading back to the front of the store.

With the two left alone, Blake pulled her book back into her lap and did her best to redirect her frustrations towards the text. She hoped she’d be able to distract herself from her feelings, but she could feel a set of eyes on her and looked up to see Ilia still standing there, still staring at her with a concerned look.

“So  _ that’s _ your boyfriend?” Ilia pursed her lips, and Blake blushed lightly at further discussion of Adam.

“Yeah. I know, I know, he’s a little bit older, but I promise you he’s an absolute sweetheart and a complete gentleman.” Smiling wide, the brief annoyance at Weiss vanishing as she gushed about Adam, Blake’s brow furrowed in confusion as Ilia merely frowned.

“That’s  _ Adam Taurus _ . You know that right?” Blake’s smile faded as she realized what Ilia was insinuating, and she let out a heavy sigh.

“I assume you’re going to bring up the rumors? Trust me, by now I’ve heard them all, and I promise you that he isn’t that person anymore. He’s changed. You heard what he said, he’s doing missionary work for the church, he’s working to change the lives of  _ children _ .” Pleading her case, Blake could tell that Ilia was unconvinced, and she stood suddenly and began to raise her voice. “Don’t be like everyone else Ilia. Don’t condemn him because of rumors about his past.”

“You can’t tell me he’s changed if you think that everything he did was only a rumor…” Ilia spoke softly, avoiding Blake’s eyes, and the other girl could only clench her hands tightly on the edges of her book. She was filled with such anger that she almost began shouting, but to their surprise the door to the manager’s office in the back suddenly burst open. The two girls stared at the blonde figure that suddenly appeared before them grinning ear to ear.

“Guess what ladies!” Staring between the two, letting the moment sink in and partially hoping they’d at least take a guess, Yang’s purple eyes moved between the shocked pair. Completely oblivious to the argument that was about to break out, and realizing that neither was going to entertain her with a guess, she merely moved forward with the surprise. “We’re going to the movies!”


End file.
